"BRISTOW, Okla. - Serving on the jury in an indecent-exposure trial unfolding in this conservative Oklahoma town has been a giggle-inducing experience.

Former Judge Donald D. Thompson, a veteran of 23 years on the bench, is on trial on charges he used a penis pump on himself in the courtroom while sitting in judgment of others.

Over the past few days, the jurors have watched a defense attorney and a prosecutor pantomime masturbation. A doctor has lectured on the lengths the defendant was willing to go to enhance his sexual performance."

"EDINBURG, Texas - A political consultant whose company was behind a television ad accusing the Clinton-Gore administration of giving away nuclear technology was convicted of child molestation charges.

A jury deliberated almost two days before convicting Carey Lee Cramer, 44, of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child by contact and one count of indecency with a child by exposure. He was cleared of nine other charges Tuesday."

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Please stop being such suckers, my fellow Southerners. For fuck-sakes just stop it! Remove head from ass... Those Southerners whose heads ARE out of their asses, SPEAK UP! It is your Christian duty to help remove those Southern heads that remain lodged in asses.

"... let's see what happens when the evangelicals he (Reed) once served absorb the evidence in the Senate report. It's damning. It depicts an enterprise that used religious voters as marks: Lobbyists effortlessly twisted them to achieve goals sometimes directly at odds with their beliefs. They were punk'd.".....The Reed story confirms what many devout Christians have argued since conservative social activists became a force in national politics in the 1970s: Engaging in worldly political maneuvering is ultimately debasing. Promises made at election time go unfulfilled until four months before the next election, and then suddenly Republicans are talking about gay marriage again.

"WASHINGTON - The United States is losing its fight against terrorism and the Iraq war is the biggest reason why, more than eight of 10 American terrorism and national security experts concluded in a poll released yesterday.

One participant, a former CIA official who described himself as a conservative Republican, said the war in Iraq has provided global terrorist groups with a recruiting bonanza, a valuable training ground and a strategic beachhead at the crossroads of the oil-rich Persian Gulf and Turkey."

...And not in a good "swinging" kind of way. Y'all, this shit is serious. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever use an electronic voting machine. Use an absentee ballot.

"To determine what it would take to hack a U.S. election, a team of cybersecurity experts turned to a fictional battleground state called Pennasota and a fictional gubernatorial race between Tom Jefferson and Johnny Adams. It's the year 2007, and the state uses electronic voting machines.

Jefferson was forecast to win the race by about 80,000 votes, or 2.3 percent of the vote. Adams's conspirators thought, 'How easily can we manipulate the election results?'

The experts thought about all the ways to do it. And they concluded in a report issued yesterday that it would take only one person, with a sophisticated technical knowledge and timely access to the software that runs the voting machines, to change the outcome."

"'The tie was a procedural loss and a huge political win at the same time,'' said Adam Green, spokesman for MoveOn.org. 'Every day and every week ... members of Congress hear from their constituents and momentum moves in favor of net neutrality.''"

This came from Americablog. It is a video showing Rove dining in the evening. Pretty creepy:

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

"It's a monstrous charge for the White House to suggest that the press is essentially aiding and abetting the enemy. But where's the evidence?...But not once has the White House definitively answered this question: How are any of these disclosures actually impairing the pursuit of terrorists?

Terrorists already knew the government was trying to track them down through their finances, their phone calls and their e-mails. Within days of the Sept. 11 attacks, for instance, Bush publicly declared open season on terrorist financing.

As far as I can tell, all these disclosures do is alert the American public to the fact that all this stuff is going on without the requisite oversight, checks and balances.

How does it possibly matter to a terrorist whether the government got a court order or not? Or whether Congress was able to exercise any oversight? The White House won't say. In fact, it can't say."

Reagan didn't win the Cold War with the U.S.S.R. Bin Laden and the Afganies won the Cold War by draining the resources of the U.S.S.R. Rinse and Repeat:

"Abu Bakr Naji, an al Qaeda insider and author of the book, 'The Management of Savagery,' believes that the 9/11 attacks accomplished what they needed to by forcing the U.S. to commit their military overseas. He says 9/11 forced the U.S. to fall into the 'trap' of overextending their military and that 'it began to become clear to the American administration that it was being drained.'"

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Democrats ratcheted up their election-year push for an increase in the federal minimum wage Tuesday by promising to block a congressional pay hike unless some of the lowest-paid hourly workers get their first raise in nearly a decade.

'Congress is going to have earn its raise by putting American workers first: A raise for workers before a raise for Congress,' said Senate "

"(CBS4 News) WEST PALM BEACH Sources have confirmed to CBS4 News that conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh has been detained at Palm Beach International Airport for the possible possession of illegal prescription drugs Monday evening.

Limbaugh was returning on a flight from the Dominican Republic when officials found the drugs, among them Viagra."

Of course, TDS does what needed to be done about the Miami 7. Watch and read:

I've spent some time in Palau and my best friend is an attorney for the President of the island nation. Check out my pictures from this paradise and get ready for some truthiness about the U.S.A.'s good ally served up by Mr. Stephen Colbert:

"Slackers at Fox News Channel, you’re on notice! Your boss is not pleased. Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes is on the warpath following his network’s recent ratings slump, and he won’t hesitate to clean house to turn things around.

So far during the second quarter, the No. 1 cable news channel’s primetime schedule has dropped 22% in its core 25-54 demo and 8% in total viewers. The first quarter was even worse.

Chief rival CNN has also dipped in recent weeks, but less dramatically, off 18% in the demo and 2% in total viewers."

Monday, June 26, 2006

"In a BBC news broadcast today, Miami Herald reporter Mani Garcia remarks that the government's arrest of seven men in connection with a 'plot' to blow up the Sears Tower is probably overblown.

'They've been described to us by sources as 'wannabes' -- still to be determined if making a connection about talking about doing an attack and and being able to finance an attack,' Garcia said. 'We've seen previous cases where the Federal government has announced with great hoopla breaking terrorist cells. And when you start deconstructing a case, you see that there's a lot of talk.'"

"Senate Democrats reacted angrily yesterday to a report that the U.S. commander in Iraq had privately presented a plan for significant troop reductions in the same week they came under attack by Republicans for trying to set a timetable for withdrawal.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that the plan attributed to Gen. George W. Casey resembles the thinking of many Democrats who voted for a nonbinding resolution to begin a troop drawdown in December. That resolution was defeated Thursday on a largely party-line vote in the Senate.

'That means the only people who have fought us and fought us against the timetable, the only ones still saying there shouldn't be a timetable really are the Republicans in the United States Senate and in the Congress,' Boxer said on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'Now it turns out we're in sync with General Casey.'"

"According to filings with the Office of Government Ethics, White House staffers have accepted nearly $135,000 in free trips since November 2004. Among those picking up the tab: some of the president's top business supporters, including the National Association of Manufacturers, and dozens of conservative and religious groups, among them the Southern Baptist Convention, Focus on the Family and the Federalist Society."

Alablawg has a great conversation on medical marijuana. Something that I fully support:

Granting for the sake of argument that marijuana is harmful, why does that mean it ought to be banned under all circumstances? All drugs are harmful if used improperly, yet we still let doctoros prescribe them. Should we ban oxycontin because of Rush Limbaugh?

"Both striker and keeper must make subtle decisions. Let's say a right-footed striker always shoots to the right. The keeper will always anticipate the shot and the striker would be better off occasionally shooting to the left—because even with a weaker shot it is best to shoot where the goalie isn't. In contrast, if the striker chooses a side by tossing a coin, the keeper will always dive to the striker's left: Since he can't guess where the ball will go, best to go where the shot will be weak if it does come. But then the striker should start favoring his stronger side again."

Friday, June 23, 2006

Since they've done away with the color coded terror alert system to scare people to the polls, they've decided to just create terror out of thin air. John on Americablog sums up my feelings on the matter. I do have one more thing to add, though... utter bullshit. Complete, and utter bullshit.

Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., including the FBI office here, a federal law enforcement official said.

And they just happened to arrest them today. Uh huh. What's the matter? A good Orange Alert just doesn't get out the vote like it used to?"

They have to create these fake terror alerts to justify the raping of the Constitution and your privacy rights. Here's how it goes: "We caught 7 Americans in Miami planning to blow up the Sears Tower because we did the following even though it is illegal as fuck... so look away, America, look away:

"WASHINGTON, June 22 - Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials."

Watch Bruce on CNN:

Ava Lowery has created another outstanding video in response to Tony Snow's statement that the 2,500 troops killed in Iraq are "just a number". You must watch and you must give love to Ava. Remember, 15 years old.

Blue Gal, one of my new blog associates, offers an excellent discussion on why the Republican's don't really want to get rid of Roe. (Blue Gal is hot, too! In a NY Times crossword in bed kind of way. Give her a read. She's becoming one of my favs).

"Let me put it this way. Pat Robertson and James Dobson may talk loudly about protecting the unborn. But if Roe is overturned their ability to fundraise on the issue is as good as over. And Karl Rove does not want Roe overturned. I guarantee you. Who has more power within the Republican Party, do you think? Pat in-any-sane-world-I'd-be-committed Robertson? Or Karl in-any-just-world-I'd-be-indicted Rove? "

"Yes, blogs are often shrill, boisterous, and unapologetically partisan. But that's a good thing. People who prefer reading to listening or watching haven't really had a rabble-rousing mass medium at their disposal for a long time, and blogs are a chance to recreate a part of Americana that we've sorely missed for the past half century. Hooray for us!"

Thursday, June 22, 2006

"I don't think we have racial bias in Texas anymore,' Congressman John Carter (TX-Rep) said after House Republican leaders suddenly cancelled plans to vote on a renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, according to an article slated for Thursday's edition of Houston Chronicle, RAW STORY has found."

Lying sack of shit. This really is a sick, pitiful attempt at election year politics. Lying, liar...

"Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) took to the microphone today to announce a shocking discovery — that WMD have been found in Iraq:

Congressman Hoekstra and I are here today to say that we have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons. … Since 2003, coalition forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons munitions which contain degraded mustard or sarin nerve agent. Despite many efforts to locate and destroy Iraq’s pre-Gulf War chemical munitions, filled and unfilled pre-Gulf War chemical munitions are assessed to still exist.

The Bush administration commissioned the Iraq Survey Group to determine whether in fact any WMD existed in Iraq. After a year and half of meticulously combing through the country, here’s what the administration’s own inspectors reported:

While a small number of old, abandoned chemical munitions have been discovered, ISG judges that Iraq unilaterally destroyed its undeclared chemical weapons stockpile in 1991. There are no credible Indications that Baghdad resumed production of chemical munitions thereafter, a policy ISG attributes to Baghdad’s desire to see sanctions lifted, or rendered ineffectual, or its fear of force against it should WMD be discovered."

"WASHINGTON, June 20 — House Republican leaders today abruptly canceled a planned vote to renew the Voting Rights Act after a rank-and-file rebellion by lawmakers who say the civil rights measure unfairly singles out Southern states and promotes multi-lingual ballots.

The reversal represented a significant embarrassment for the party leadership, which has promised a vote on the landmark anti-discrimination law and hailed its imminent approval in a rare bipartisan press event on the steps of the Capitol last month."

"You wouldn't know it from the coverage of David H. Safavian's conviction yesterday for lying and obstructing justice, but some of his criminal activity actually took place while he was working at the White House.

Safavian managed to avoid being frog-marched out of the White House by resigning three days before his arrest."

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

"Richard Perle, foreign policy adviser: 'The first time I met Bush 43 … two things became clear. One, he didn't know very much. The other was that he had the confidence to ask questions that revealed he didn't know very much.'

David Frum, former speechwriter: 'Bush had a poor memory for facts and figures. … Fire a question at him about the specifics of his administration's policies, and he often appeared uncertain. Nobody would ever enroll him in a quiz show.'

Laura Bush, spouse: 'George is not an overly introspective person. He has good instincts, and he goes with them. He doesn't need to evaluate and reevaluate a decision. He doesn't try to overthink. He likes action.'

Paul O'Neill, former treasury secretary: 'The only way I can describe it is that, well, the President is like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no discernible connection.'"

Bush doesn't like being out-mentally challenged by anyone. Click the link to learn things today...

"# Al-Qaedist Abu Zubaydah was captured in March 2002. # Zubaydah's captors discovered he was mentally ill and charged with minor logistical matters, such as arranging travel for wives and children. # The President was informed of that judgment by the CIA. # Two weeks later, the President described Zubaydah as 'one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States.'"

Blowjob or cheating rat bastards..... When Democrats have sex we are hell bound with no chance at redemption. When Republicans have sex and cheat on their wives all they gotta do is ask Jeebus for forgiveness. Fuck up? Just ask for forgiveness from the lord. Rinse and repeat. No actually accountability....

"Lurking just over the horizon are liabilities for three Republicans who have topped several national, independent polls for the GOP's favorite 2008 nominee: Sen. John McCain (affair, divorce), former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (affair, divorce, affair, divorce), and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (divorce, affair, nasty divorce). Together, they form the most maritally challenged crop of presidential hopefuls in American political history."

I love ya, Kerry. I think you would have made a fine President. BUT... where the fuck was this in 2004? I'm glad you've ditched those Beltway consultants and are speaking your mind. "It's a little too little, its a little too late". Still a great sound bite to repeat over and over. Lie and die... lie and die... lie and die.... give it a try!

"KERRY: 'Stay the course' is not a plan. And what this administration wants is to have a fake debate, as usual. Uh, they're--you hear the drumbeat on every television show from every commentator, 'cut and run, cut and run, cut and run, cut and run.' That's their phrase. They've found their three words, they love to do that, and they're gonna try to make the elections in November a choice between 'cut and run' or 'stay the course.' That's not the choice. My plan is not 'cut and run.' Their plan is 'lie and die.'"

"STATESBORO, Ga., - A 21-year-old Georgia man was arrested after trying to buy drinks with a checkbook he found at a bar. Unfortunately for Jody Brian Minor of McRae, the checkbook's owner was the bartender serving him."

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Look, enough with the "gut feeling" crap. My gut is pissed that I drank cheap beer this weekend and is telling me to be careful with the farts I'm shooting into the cushion of my desk chair because I just might crap myself. Seriously, what comes out of your gut? Shit, that's what. Bush's guts are linked directly to his empty skull, thus giving him... wait for it..... wait for it.... that's right, shit for brains.

"President Bush flew to Baghdad last week to size up Iraq's new leader. 'I have come not only to thank you,' he told American troops gathered in the Green Zone on Tuesday, 'but to look Prime Minister Maliki in the eyes -- to determine whether or not he is as dedicated to a free Iraq as you are.'

"If you were at the YearlyKos Conventon, then you saw the awesome video that 15 y.o. Ava created for us....Recently, Ava has been getting quite a bit of media attention, and some unwanted attention by right wing wackos who have been sending her death threats.

Last night Ava discussed this in her interview on CNN.

Y'all, Ava absolutely hit a home run! Crooks and Liars has the footage, which includes clips of her 'Jesus Loves Me' creation.....Ava Lowery: Patriot and Hero"

WASHINGTON -- A new report claims that a 'shadow government' of federal contractors has exploded in size over the last five years.

The document, compiled at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and distributed to RAW STORY, indicates that procurement spending increased by over $175 billion between 2000 and 2005, making federal contracts the fastest growing component of federal discretionary spending."

Monday, June 19, 2006

Hell No I Ain't HappyCottonseedEasy On YourselfAftermath U.S.A.Gravity's GoneNever Gonna ChangeLet There Be RockLiving BubbaOutfit

They sounded awesome. No problem playing amphitheatres, that's for sure. Really, really, really tight. They had a lot of fun on stage,too. Great energy. Crowd filtered in througout the set. Only 5Ktickets were sold and the place holds 15k-20k. Patterson had some great ad libs in LTBR. He misses his little girl on Father's Day. Outfit as a final was a nod to Father's Day. Witnessed a few t-shirts being sold. They just rock, y'all.

And he won't rely on any leader in the military that doesn't tell him what he wants to here... he won't rely on anything but the lord jebus and the black, puss that oozes from his shriveled prune like heart and the cob-webbed dust bunnies that rattle around his empty skull...

“If I had known the president was going to be this incompetent in his administration, I would not have given him the authority” to go to war, said Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Oh, and Biden... You wouldn't have gotten elected if we had of known you were too stupid to realize Bush's incompetence. Biden is a perfect example of what's wrong with the Democrats. He needs to go away.

"NEW YORK The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked 'sensitive,' that it says shows that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, 'the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees.'"

But Bush won't listen to the embassy. The embassy is just like a poll....

Seriously, though, it's going just super over in Iraq. Why, the insurgent are asking our soldiers to come over for dinner. Isn't that nice...

"BAGHDAD, Iraq - An umbrella group linked to al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Monday that it had kidnapped two American soldiers reported missing south of Baghdad, where 8,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops were conducting a massive search."

Another Democrat who should be kicked out of the party. I guess I won't be going to Louisiana anymore. Sucks, cause I love N.O.

"NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Louisiana Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law a ban on most abortions, which would be triggered if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 ruling legalizing the procedure, a spokesman said on Saturday."

"WASHINGTON - Gritty rats and mice living in sewers and farms seem to have healthier immune systems than their squeaky clean cousins that frolic in cushy antiseptic labs, two studies indicate. The lesson for humans: Clean living may make us sick.

The studies give more weight to a 17-year-old theory that the sanitized Western world may be partly to blame for soaring rates of human allergy and asthma cases and some autoimmune diseases, such as Type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. The theory, called the hygiene hypothesis, figures that people's immune systems aren't being challenged by disease and dirt early in life, so the body's natural defenses overreact to small irritants such as pollen."

Friday, June 16, 2006

Mudcat Saudners... love this guy. Check out the article about him here. He's running Webb's senatorial campaign in Virginia. Watch this clip to see the difference between a new Democrat and the old, establishment Democrat. Mudcat is the one with no tie... or shame of his accent.

"Mudcat is a great pick to help Webb defeat Allen and that confederate flag loving George has to be nervous now. USATODAY: 'Saunders, 54, helped Democrat Mark Warner become governor of red-state Virginia in 2001.'"

"HONG KONG (AP) - Famous astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Thursday that the late Pope John Paul II once told scientists they should not study the beginning of the universe because it was the work of God.....The scientist then joked during a lecture in Hong Kong, 'I was glad he didn't realize I had presented a paper at the conference suggesting how the universe began. I didn't fancy the thought of being handed over to the Inquisition like Galileo.'Oh, yeah. This is why. They might actually find out the truth:

"What they found is being called the missing link on the evolution of birds, a loon-like creature that lived in northwest China and is the earliest example of modern birds that populate the planet today."

"DENVER (AP) - A 15-year-old girl can enter into a common-law marriage in Colorado, and younger girls and boys possibly can, too, a state appeals court ruled Thursday.

While the three-judge panel stopped short of setting a specific minimum age for such marriages, it said they could be legal for girls at 12 and boys at 14 under English common law, which Colorado recognizes."

If ya don't eat yer meat, how can you have any pot! How can you have any pot if you don't eat yer meat?

"Nearly four years after it authorized the use of force in Iraq, the House today will embark on its first extended debate on the war, with Republican leaders daring Democrats to vote against a nonbinding resolution to hold firm on Iraq and the war on terrorism."

If it's only a dare, don't bite, Demos. If they double-dog dare you then you've got some problems. Juvenile fucks.

What's this commie Rice talkin' about? Sounds like she's sympathizing with the terrorist. I thought the company line was that we would prevail and flowers at our feet and California style democracy would flourish in the middle east and the desert would be transformed into a red wood forest and liberators and fetid tons of other impossible bullshit...

I use to live in Greensboro.... and this one time at band camp.... seriously, though, I use to live in Greensboro. Awesome strip clubs.

"(CNN) -- Large quantities of drugs were found inside merchandise from at least two Home Depot stores in Massachusetts, and authorities are investigating, police said Wednesday.

A contractor late last week discovered two 50-pound 'bricks' of marijuana wrapped in plastic bags inside a bathroom vanity he had purchased at a Home Depot store in Tewksbury, said Chief of Detectives Lt. Dennis Peterson."

"Stewart: You're the guy--I have sympathy for you because you're the guy who has to spray perfume on these turds. You know what I mean? You're the guy that has to go out and like no matter what (garbled) It's not an easy job. I mean what happened to these guys..."

"PROVO, Utah - Brigham Young University has decided not to rehire a part-time instructor because he publicly opposed the Mormon church's stand against marriage for same-sex couples.

Jeffrey Nielsen, a philosophy instructor at the church-owned university, said in an op-ed piece for the June 4 edition of The Salt Lake Tribune, 'I believe opposing gay marriage and seeking a constitutional amendment against it is immoral.'"

The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is a greater threat to Mideast stability than the government in Iran, according to a poll of European and Muslim countries.

People in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia rated America's continuing involvement in Iraq a worse problem than Iran and its nuclear ambitions, according to polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Views of U.S. troops in Iraq were even more negative in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan.

My stance regarding Coulter and this blog is that I would never allow her name to sully AAW. After her last leap into profit making insanity, I felt I needed to ding her somehow. Luckily, Henry Rollins has written a letter to Ann. Take it away, Henry:

"HONG KONG - The survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy the Earth, world-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Tuesday.

Humans could have a permanent base on the moon in 20 years and a colony on Mars in the next 40 years, the British scientist told a news conferenc

"The language used by Luskin strongly suggests that Rove got immunity in exchange for his cooperation (it is probably the same deal I have been suggesting was offered to Novak way back when. . . )Otherwise he never would have testified in the Grand Jury to begin with.

“Does not anticipate seeking charges” means that if Rove testifies at Libby’s trial as expected, and as his agreement no doubt provides for him to testify, (lawyers call it providing “ongoing cooperation”), then all will be well for him. But if he “goes sideways” on Fitz and testifies differently from what is now expected, he could be charged–w/perjury certainly, and his deal to avoid criminal liability in the larger conspiracy could be “off” as he could face charges in that as well."

... And do you think we could get some reporters to press the following:

"As Media Matters repeatedly noted, the subject of Rove's security clearance has gone largely unreported by the news media. When the White House has faced questions about the clearance, it has repeatedly refused to answer, citing the 'ongoing investigation.'

Now that Rove is apparently no longer the subject of an 'ongoing investigation' into the Plame matter, Media Matters hopes reporters will demand answers about his security clearance."

Look, Rove is working this situation. He's agreed to testify against Libby. If he doesn't play by Fitzgerald's rules then his ass is in the hot seat again. Oh, and let's not forget the civil suit that cometh his way via Plame/Wilson.

"Republicans, and even a surprising number of Democrats, have been anxious to leave the 2004 Ohio election debacle behind. But Kennedy, in his long, heavily footnoted article ('Was the 2004 Election Stolen?'), leaves no doubt that the democratic process was trampled and left for dead in the Buckeye State. Kerry almost certainly would have won Ohio if all of his votes had been counted, and if all of the eligible voters who tried to vote for him had been allowed to cast their ballots.....No one has been able to prove that the election in Ohio was hijacked. But whenever it is closely scrutinized, the range of problems and dirty tricks that come to light is shocking. What's not shocking, of course, is that every glitch and every foul-up in Ohio, every arbitrary new rule and regulation, somehow favored Bush."

Actually, this new species is just the evil spawn of Tom Delay and Strom Thurmond

In what has become a tirade from Christian conservatives, a letter writer (Marriage vote, May 27) thumps the Bible to support his own intolerance of homosexuals. Then, in a type of Orwellian speak, he proclaims that his intolerance is really compassion.

While Christian conservatives lambaste homosexuals with biblical proclamations, they are silent on the biblical passages that are blatant folly; and they certainly don't let these passages influence their lives.

The Bible is just as clear on "gathering sticks upon the Sabbath day" as it is on homosexuality. In Numbers 13:32-36, God left no doubt concerning how he felt about this practice: "And the Lord said unto Moses, The Man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp."

To be consistent, Christian conservatives condemning homosexuals should campaign with equal vigor against picking up sticks (yard work) on Sunday. Better yet, they should let reason be their ethical guide.

Contradicting the Bible, the First Amendment gives us the right to worship other gods, work on Sunday and say anything we like about the gods.

The document of freedoms conceived by what may be the most brilliant and visionary group of men ever assembled should take precedence over a book compiled by ignorant, superstitious, self-serving peoples of ancient cultures.

Monday, June 12, 2006

"Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is 'to conduct physical and spiritual warfare'; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice. You have never felt so powerful, so driven by a purpose: you are 13 years old. You are playing a real-time strategy video game whose creators are linked to the empire of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, best selling author of The Purpose Driven Life."

"Once again, last night, Al Gore found himself denying rumors of a 2008 presidential run--this time on The Tonight Show.

But Gore's political aspirations (or lack thereof,) are taking a back seat to his newfound 'movie star status,' according to Leno. The former Vice President has been pushing his concert-style lecture documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth.'

'It's not all fun,' Gore remarked. 'For instance, I have this huge thing with Lindsay Lohan now. When Leno asked how the feud started, Gore responded, 'she knows what she did.'

Gore also said that he would consider on-screen nudity if it was necessary to progress the story."

"One, we aren't fighting Lex Luthor. His deputy will take his place and the war will continue, worse than ever. We've crossed a corner into secterian violence, and despite the hype from Bush, Zarqawi was a minor player in the resistance and more showy than effective.

Two: The media will play this up as a victory for a few days, but within a month, Bush will; be cursing the US Air Force. Zarqawi was the last figleaf to hide the reality of Iraq, which is that we're fighting Iraqis, not al Qaeda, not Saddam loyalists.

When the war doesn't calm down, and the death squad activity means anything but, what will the Administration say then? Who will be the new boogie man? George Bush may see this as a break.

"Cox has been collaborating with Authentium since April 2005 to develop the security software suite.

Back on February 23rd Authentium acknowledged that their software is blocking Craigslist but it still hasn't fixed the problem, more than three months later. That's a heck of long time to delete some text from their blacklist. And this company also supplies security software to other large ISPs.

Craigslist has approached Authentium several times to get it to stop blocking access by Cox internet users but it has been unresponsive. Jim wasn't aware that Cox had its own classified ads service. 'That changes things, ' he said."

"Las Vegas -- Two years ago, the first bloggers credentialed to cover the Democratic National Convention in Boston were treated as a novelty, guests at the restricted club where mainstream media reporters and politicians hobnob.

This weekend, in a sign of how new media is reshaping politics, some of the nation's top Democratic politicians are flocking to the first major offline convention inspired by a political blog, the Berkeley-based Daily Kos.

At the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, politicians, labor leaders and liberal interest groups are swooning before more than 1,000 'netroots' activists, mindful of the groups' ability to spread political buzz and raise quick cash."

Thursday, June 08, 2006

"But perhaps the netroots’ favorite avatar in waiting is Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana. In their eyes he’s the rootin’-tootin’ real deal, a rancher turned politician who believes in government activism set free from traditional liberal thinking and interest-group methods. This week a prot�g�of Schweitzer’s, a rancher named Jon Tester, won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Kos happily noted that Tester comes from “the middle of nowhere”—Big Sandy, Mont.—and provided a link to a Yahoo map to prove it.

So that’s the place to start from in this new political era: not Washington, but the middle of nowhere."

The middle of nowhere... The middle of cyperwhere... Where ever, just not in Washington.

"It's no secret that I look to the Mountain West for the future of the Democratic Party, people like Brian Schweitzer and Jon Tester. But I also look to candidates like Jim Webb in Virginia and Paul Hackett in Ohio."...

The Libertarian Democrat understands that there is a third danger to personal liberty -- the corporation. The Lib Dem (in the US context, not the UK political party) understands that corporations, left unchecked, can be huge dangers to our personal liberties.

Lib Dems are not hostile to government like traditional libertarians. But unlike the liberal Democrats of old times (now all but extinct), the Lib Dem doesn't believe government is the solution for everything. But it sure as heck is effective in checking the power of corporations.

In other words, government can protect our liberties from those who would infringe upon them -- corporations and other individuals

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

The federal marriage amendment, which would write discrimination into the Constitution, is an obvious attempt to change the subject from topics that the Congress should be addressing to a hot button social issue intended to appeal to certain factions. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Frist plans to hold a vote on this mean-spirited proposal. It has no chance of receiving the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments. The only thing bringing it up now will accomplish is to push Congress further away from the issues it should be addressing and engage the Senate of the United States in a shameful political ploy."'

Umm, could you guys start to work on the problems that are really fucking up the U.S. Healthcare, wages, education, infrastructure, getting us out of illegal wars.... and on and on and on and on and on..............

"'The Republican leadership is asking us to spend time writing bigotry into the Constitution,' said Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, which legalized gay marriage in 2003. 'A vote for it is a vote against civil unions, against domestic partnership, against all other efforts for states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law.'

In response, Hatch fumed: 'Does he really want to suggest that over half of the United States Senate is a crew of bigots?'"

Kennedy can't suggest this but I can state it factually. Over half of the U.S. Senate is a crew of bigots.

TDS had on bigot extraordinaire Bill Bennet last night. Stewart pummeled his ass on the "gay marriage" debate. If you wan't to know how to discuss this with the wingers, watch this entire interview.

"Social Security numbers and other personal information for as many as 2.2 million U.S. military personnel -- including nearly 80 percent of the active-duty force -- were among the data stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs analyst last month, federal officials said yesterday, raising concerns about national security as well as identity theft."

DBT was on Conan last night and MattR over at Nine Bullets has some great screen captures

Check out the mps here The video will be up later on Ninebullets. Thanks, MattR!

Look "science" I don't need you giving me any more reasons to crave a beer, OK?

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

"Bush's pandering to the religious fanatics today was a political ploy as we know. This move also brought back memories of another terrible time in our history.

Jack Johnson was a famous African American boxer in the early 1900's. He caused quite a stir throughout our country which was captured by PBS in a great documentary about his life.

In December of 1912, an amendment to the Constitution was introduced to abolish racial intermarriage: 'Intermarriage between negros or persons of color and Caucasians . . . within the United States . . . is forever prohibited.' These anti-micegenation laws were declared unconstitutional by The Supreme Court in 1967.

Corante: Because of Johnson's arrogance and love for white women, many whites considered him a serious threat to racial order. After Johnson married Lucille Cameron (a white woman), two ministers in the South recommended lynching him (Gilmore, 1975, p.107). In a reaction to the Johnson-Cameron marriage, in 1911 Rep. Seaborn Roddenberry of Georgia introduced a constitutional amendment to ban interracial marriages. In his appeal to congress, Roddenberry stated that

'Intermarriage between whites and blacks is repulsive and averse to every sentiment of pure American spirit. It is abhorrent and repugnant. It is subversive to social peace. It is destructive of moral supremacy, and ultimately this slavery to black beasts will bring this nation to a fatal conflict' (Gilmore, 1975, p.108).

Influenced by Roddenberry and others, miscegenation bills were introduced in 1913 in half of the twenty states where this law did not exist."

I've been watching Space Race on The Discovery channel the past few nights. I was struck by how the "competition" with the U.S.S.R. played such a huge role in the development of the space program and subsequently our landing on the moon. Kennedy challenged us and we responded. Innovation was spurred in the U.S. Jobs were created. Technology was created that had free market applications. Businesses were created around this technology. My god, TANG, people, TANG!

Why can't we take this same mentality and apply it to alternative fuels. We've got a competitor. Read the article below. It would be a source of national pride. Innovation would be spurred. Jobs would be created. Technology would be created that we could sell..... Why can't we do this? Oh, yeah... lack of leadership, cronies in the government, and the oil companies don't want change, buh-blah, buh-blah, buh-blah...

"While China is most commonly known as a voracious consumer of energy with a spotty environmental record, the emerging industrial giant is quietly becoming a world leader in developing renewable energy sources and technology. With its energy needs growing exponentially and the price of oil near record highs, Beijing is using every possible means to eke out extra kilowatts--and this means not only cutting oil deals with rogue regimes and building nuclear reactors but also putting into place some of the most aggressive renewable-energy policies in the world."

Fuck this article. Who the fuck do they think they are? Why I oughta bash them with a golf club. GODDAMMIT!

"CHICAGO - To you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering from road rage. But doctors have another name for it — intermittent explosive disorder — and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans.

'People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know ... is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this,' said Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago's medical school."

I can't tell you how much this article tickles me. So this proves god doesn't exist, right? There are SO many people who need to try this. We could make a reality TV show out of it.

"I told that boy not to be fuckin' around with no lions while bein' a Christian".

Monday, June 05, 2006

"MESSAGE:Specifically, we'd like you to ask them to vow that in the past, now, and in the future they will abstain from sodomy (including same-sex and/or male-female analingus, cunnilingus, and fellatio), masturbation, adultery, prostitution, out-of-wedlock sex, and marriages that cannot procreate. We will also ask them about divorce, as there is no greater threat to marriage today than divorce (in addition, the Bible makes clear that divorce is a no-no)."

"Though Bush himself has publicly embraced the amendment, he never seemed to care enough to press the matter. One of his old friends told NEWSWEEK that same-sex marriage barely registers on the president's moral radar. 'I think it was purely political. I don't think he gives a s--t about it. He never talks about this stuff,' said the friend, who requested anonymity to discuss his private conversations with Bush. White House aides, who also declined to be identified, insist that the president does care about banning gay marriage. They say Monday's events with amendment supporters—Bush will also meet privately with a small group—have been in the works 'for weeks' and aren't just a sop to conservatives."

"Thoughtful Americans have long wondered how it is that fundamentalist Christians--followers of someone who preached pacifism and tolerance--became the poster boy for hate speech, touting 'moral values' indistinguishable from those of the Taliban. They wonder why, for example, fundamentalist Christians so seldom quote from the New Testament--which is supposedly what Christianity is all about--but prefer citing the Torah and Old Testament prophets."

"Every so often, in the face of the administration’s stonewalling in the NSA leak probe and Abu Gonzales’s cavalier attitude toward the Rule of Law (except as it applies to political enemies), I feel overwhelmed and hopeless, and despair of ever seeing justice served in the myriad of egregious abuses of power perpetrated by BushCo and its cronies. But then I see something like this at Think Progress where the good folks at Tom DeLay’s Legal Defense Fund are saluting Stephen Colbert for his hard-hitting interview with 'Outfoxed' director Robert Greenwald on the subject of Greenwald’s new film 'The Big Buy: Tom DeLay’s Stolen Congress'. They’ve even posted the full video at the Defend Delay Web-Site. According to them, Greenwald 'crashed and burned' under the withering glare of Colbert’s laser wit.

Now, why would a bunch of crony-sucking Repug thugs suddenly rush forward to embrace a known liberal satirist? BECAUSE THEY DON’T REALIZE HE’S A LIBERAL! "

'Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants, such as theobromine, phenethylamine, and caffeine,' Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia noted in comments to Reuters Health."

Friday, June 02, 2006

Sorry to sucker you in with a little politics before we get to the DBT, but this is really important to me and it should be important to you. The mainstream media won't mention it but it should be on every TV station and in every newspaper until there is a goddamn revolt in this country.

We are currently living in a rolling coup... Forward this article to everyone you know.

But as the evening progressed, official tallies began to show implausible disparities -- as much as 9.5 percent -- with the exit polls. In ten of the eleven battleground states, the tallied margins departed from what the polls had predicted. In every case, the shift favored Bush. Based on exit polls, CNN had predicted Kerry defeating Bush in Ohio by a margin of 4.2 percentage points. Instead, election results showed Bush winning the state by 2.5 percent. Bush also tallied 6.5 percent more than the polls had predicted in Pennsylvania, and 4.9 percent more in Florida.(33)

Today is Video day. A few of these have been on the web for a while, but I thought I'd collect 'em all in one place. Enjoy and I hope this makes your Friday pass a little quicker.

DBT Drinkin'

Snappin' turtle at the Fidelitorium

Women Without Whiskey - Seattle, May 9, 2006

DBT Texas Bootleg

Here's a clip of Wes and Jil Freed's band, The Shiners:

"The Shiners performing "Dixie's Lullaby". Originally broadcast on Richmond, VA Public TV".

"Keeping in mind that a mere 6 votes registered for Kerry instead of Bush at each precint in Ohio in 2004 would have given the state, and the Presidency, to Kerry, here's a few quotes from the article..."

A coin dealer and prominent GOP fundraiser at the center of an Ohio political scandal pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges he illegally funneled about $45,000 to President Bush's re-election campaign.

Tom Noe, once a powerful political figure who also raised money for Ohio Republicans, still is charged with embezzlement in an ill-fated $50 million coin investment that he managed for the state workers' compensation fund."

"NEW YORK, May 31 /PRNewswire/ -- As Taking The Long Way debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums chart this week, with first week's sales of 525,829, the Dixie Chicks have become the first female group in chart history to have three albums debut at #1, breaking the record the Chicks established in 2002 when the group's last studio album, Home, debuted at #1 and made them the first female group ever to have two albums debut at #1."